Download Shamanism and Ritual Healing

2013
One day workshop on
Shamanism and Ritual Healing’
Organized by
Department of Anthropology
University of Delhi
October 2013
Funded by
Research Council
University of Delhi
Compiled by
Nilisha Vashist
Shamanism and Ritual Healing
Department of Anthropology
University of Delhi
Shamanism and Ritual Healing
Nilisha Vashist, University of Delhi
Abstract
Ritual healing is a broad term used to denote diverse practices in order to heal variously affected
individuals in a culturally embedded, idiosyncratic and ritualistic manner. Shamanism, as a form
of ritual healing involves channeling of spirits from other world by mediums called as shamans
in order to cure their clients of various illnesses and is a positive form of spirit-possession in
anthropological terms. However, ritual healing also encompasses several other modes of healing
which involve exorcising the spirits that in one way or the other possess the host and produce
socially undesirable effects manifested as mental or other physiological illness. This rather
opposite nature of possession seen in shamanism and ritual exorcism presents an interesting field
of research both from cultural underpinnings and vis-à-vis the psychiatric and psychological
parameters. As the trends have over the decades shifted from a downright mockery of such
rituals by the scientific world to a more inclusive attitude hinting at the need to acknowledge and
learn further from such ritualistic forms of healing in order to arrive at a more efficacious health
system. This paper draws from the proceedings of one-day workshop conducted by
Anthropology department of University of Delhi on shamanism and ritual healing aimed at
promoting the research into this realm through an infusion of fresh ideas and active participation
of researchers working in this field.
Keywords
Shamanism, Ritual healing, Shamans, Spirits, Possession.
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Shamanism and Ritual Healing
Department of Anthropology
University of Delhi
Introduction
Shamanism and healing rituals with their associated healers have long been central to religious
studies and anthropology, especially anthropology of religionand psychological anthropology.
No wonder, shamans have been accredited as religious specialists (Balzer 1966) and
ethnographies across the world and time emphasize healing rituals and curers under the rubric of
a wider indigenous social system (Kluckhohn 1944; Charles 1995;Balzer 1966; Grim 1983; Noll
1983; Wallis 1999; Mooney 1896). Shamanism, as a phenomenon is sought to be explained
through many adages most of which agree upon the role of altered states of consciousness and a
voluntary mediator ship between the world of humans and spirits (Devereux 1956;Woodman,
1988;Taussig 1987). Shaman as a wounded healer (Halifax 1982) or a neurotic (Devereux 1961)
or a social healer (Taussig 1987) has attracted much scholarly debate in anthropological and
psychological circles. This is evident through bewildering amount of research done into various
realms of the phenomenon of shamanism, ranging from descriptions of shamans, initiation of
shamans, symbolism and allegory to understanding the trance behavior, narratives and discourses
of shamanistic healing and explanations of efficacy (Eliade 1961, 1989; Grim 1983; Harner
1980, 1988; Humphrey 1980; Kapferer 1979; Lewis 1971; Mooney 1896). Besides, clinical
psychology and psychiatry have also joined the bandwagon and have further intensified the
discussions on shamanistic modes of healing, strengths and weaknesses over psychiatric cure as
well as effective inclusion of culture specific etymologies and illnesses into official psychiatric
categories like diagnostic and statistical manual (DSM) and international classification of
diseases(ICD) (van Duijl et al 2005, Kirmayer 1997). A part of this renewed interest has also
stemmed from the re-emergence of shamanistic movements in the west in spite of a strong and
functional psychiatric healthcare system. The emergence of neo-shamanism has refueled the
need of understanding this phenomenon deeply not only from an indigenous culture perspective
but also from the view of a more ecological and numinous category of phenomenon.
Whereas shamanism has mostly been seen as a phenomenon of tribal religions, ritual healing has
wider connotations which not only includes shamanistic rituals of healing but also all those
rituals and ritual specialists who function under a structured system of various religions like
priests and diviners as well as many folk healers that draw their healing attributes through some
or the other ritual channeling the energies of transcendental entities. Many authors suggest faith
healing as somewhat similar or synonymous to ritual healing taking the analogy of placebo effect
from biomedicine (Edgerton 1971, Herrick 1983, Moerman 1983). Much of the ritual healing
finds official recognition under the umbrella term of complementary and alternative medicine
(CAM). The wide acceptance of this type of healing at the local levels has been the major factor
in stirring scientific research towards substantiating, merging or modifying and including such
healing in a systematic manner. The ritual healing meant to ward off spirits or exorcism (unlike
shamanism which adorcises them) is reported in popular media from all over the world- west and
non-west alike. Much of the ritual healing draws queerly from religious paraphernalia while
remaining somewhat at the fringes of established doctrines of that religion. Though psychiatry
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Department of Anthropology
University of Delhi
and anthropological works on ritual healing of possessed have followed antagonistic routes yet
they offer insights into a more effective and better accepted system on an inter-disciplinary level.
Various studies have highlighted the experiential, embodied, trance behavior, social and cultural
underpinnings of possession of ritual healing of the possessed (Lambek 1981, Turner 1992,
Csordas and Lewton 1998, Sax 2009).
The one day workshop organized by Anthropology department, University of Delhi, revolved
around the aforementioned themes and aimed at bringing forth fresher insights into the topics of
shamanism and ritual healing by discussing various theoretical, practical and futuristic ideas to
shape ongoing and future research in a more applied manner on shamanism and ritual healing.
The workshop saw a medley of ideas, memoirs and experiences from the participants in order to
steer future research attended byV. K. Srivastava, S. M.Channa and P. C. Joshi (Professors in
University of Delhi), R.P. Mitra, C. Mahajan and M. Srivastava (Assistant Professors in
University of Delhi) as well as numerous research scholars and post-graduate students. The
screening of two documentaries on shamanism and ritual healing by Michael Oppitz and Helene
Basu respectively also added to the thematic rigor and were discussed upon in the workshop.
Shamanism and the changing trends
The field of study dealing with shamanism and shamanistic healing has seen numerous
trajectories since its earliest inclusion into western terminologies in the seventeenth century, first
in travelogues of explorers and administrators and later in the anthropological and religious
studies discussions. Largely discussed under anthropological terminologies, shamanism saw
numerous shifts from an evolutionary (magico-religious) to a functional to a more of
phenomenological perspective with recent trends also looking at the larger realm of shamanistic
healing and alternative modes from a clinical or psychological point of view. S.M.Channa not
only discussed the linguistic roots of word shaman tracing to Tungusic language of Tunguk
people of Siberia and a possible Sanskrit origin in the term shramana to denote wanderers who
were healers on the margins of great Hindu tradition but also described important works of
Mircea Eliade (1972, 1989)on shamanism as benchmarks in anthropological discourse.
Shamanism involves a practitioner reaching altered states of consciousness in order to encounter
and interact with the spirit world and channel these transcendental energies into this world,
generally for divination and/or healing (Hoppal 1987). The talk covered various aspects of
shamanism, including the difference between possession and trance (Bourguignon1968, 1973 ),
transition from marginality of spirit affliction to control of the spirits (voluntary nature of
possession), induction of trance through various means like drum sounds, drugs and
hallucinogens, sensory deprivation, etc. and culturally rooted mode of healing. The shamanistic
principle of healing based on harmony of nature by restoring the loss of soul and deeper
connections with the culture though local mythology and socially accepted terminologies make
shamans social healer who are very efficient in dealing with patients in vernacularly understood
idioms of distress.
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Department of Anthropology
University of Delhi
P.C. Joshi also highlighted aspect of social healing of shamanism by citing his own study done
among the Jaunsari people of Himalayas (Joshi, 2010 ) where shaman is an expert at sociopsy (
like autopsy in medicine) and performs the three major tasks of oracle, family counselor and a
therapist. The relevance of shamans in a place where there is a conspicuous absence of
psychiatrists is a part of the social milieu therapy where the shaman not only heals and
rehabilitates the affected in a culturally appropriated manner but also is one of the earlier healed
rehabilitees. Thus, the rehabilitation of the affected individuals is not only de-stigmatized but
also made much more lucrative unlike those who consult psychiatry and end up living with the
stigma of mentally disturbed for the rest of their lives. Discussing shamanistic healing in
Himalayas, he discussed the distinction between good and bad possession where socially
desirable possession is known as bawal and leads to initiation of the shaman who at the
beginning is called naitor and over time manages to control the spirits and channel their energies
at will becoming a bochwan, an expert shaman. These shamans are supposed to follow certain
rules regarding purity and pollution and emulate higher caste individuals in their manner of
living hinting at the deep set linkages between caste-hierarchies and native cosmologies that
draw sanctions from local myths and traditions.
The rich world of symbolism, mythology and culturally intrinsic nature of shamanism is also
highlighted in the documentary titled “Shamans of the Blind Country” by Michael Oppitz (1980)
depicting the shamans of northern Magar in Nepal. The documentary followed the lives and
rituals of the shamans that drew from the allegories of fables, myths and local symbolism and
covered various rituals associated with shamanism like the healing ritual involving balancing the
loss of soul and also curing the affected by sucking out the impurity as well as the initiation of
shamans. The multi-faceted personality of shamans as healer, diviner, an everyday worker and
hunter and a therapist were showcased in a fluidic style of narration enriching the knowledge on
ecologically rooted and culturally valued nature of shamanism.
While talking about the change of perspectives of looking at the whole phenomenon of
shamanism, S.M.Channa described the critical shift from dealing with shamanism in functional
terms to a more socially constructed phenomenological reality which largely arose due to
western dichotomy between mind and body, anomie as described by Durkheim (1964) and also a
greater disjunction between humans and their environment. This has led to resurgence in
shamanistic movements around the world like neo-shamanism in the west from 1960s onwards
and maibi culture of Manipur in India (Kshetrimayum 2009). Such movements towards
shamanism variously offer insights into numerous recent trends worth researching in shamanism
like questions on gendered nature of shamanism, ecological affiliations in shamanistic cultures
and a systematization of shamanistic modes of healing. Also among the topics worth considering
would be the role of numinous experiences as well as linguistic subtleties associated with
shamanism (like ascending of the evil and descending of the good spirits).
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Department of Anthropology
University of Delhi
Ritual healing: Exorcism at Mir Datar Dargahand Mehndipur Balaji Temple
The field of ritual healing of people afflicted by evil spirits presents another aspect of possession
and trance where unlike shamanism; the host is not in voluntary control of the mounting spirits.
This type of possession being socially undesirable is taken to be an affliction or malady that
needs to be cured through exorcizing the evil spirit(s). The exorcism which aims at expulsing the
afflicting spirits through means of punishments is a reverse of adorcism done by shamans where
they willfully command the spirits to take control of their bodies.
Describing the ritual of exorcism at the dargah (shrine) of Mir Datar, a saint with magical
abilities mentioned in the local history in Gujarat, India; the documentary titled “Spirits of Envy”
by Helene Basu (ND) brilliantly described the local beliefs of people regarding spirits and the
nature of their afflictions, role of sorcery in spirit-possession and various aspects of healing at the
dargah, like the analogy of a court where the afflicting spirit(s) are compelled to appear for the
trial called as hajri, the jury of 52 saints that decides the case against the intruding spirits and the
rituals meant to ward off the spirits involving possession trance through the means of interviews
and narratives taken from the afflicted, their family members as well as the healers. The
documentary also shed light on the pan-Indic nature of such shrines where healing nosology is
agreed upon by people belonging to different regions and religions. Also, the family members of
afflicted were seen as caught between various systems of healing highlighting the multiple health
seeking behavior where the affected had consulted doctors and psychiatrists prior to visiting
dargah and were stigmatized at being labeled as mentally disturbed by the psychiatrists.
Prof. V.K. Srivastava opined that as anthropologists, one is empathetic to the phenomenon of
spirit-possession unlike most of the psychiatrists who see in these rituals an aberration. So, the
anthropologists strive to unravel the deeper culturally embedded realities which locate spirit
possession in different realms of structure and function of the society. Citing Obeyesekere
(1970), who compared the healing done by psychiatrists and shamans, he called ritual healing
places as hope generating unlike the skeptical frame of psychiatric healing where the patient
lives with the disease even after cure.
Sharing his lively reminiscences of Balaji temple at Mehandipur, Rajasthan, one such healing
place renowned in northern India, he recalled his two visits in 1979 and 1986 during which he
came across rituals meant to ward off the evil spirits afflicting the visitors at the temple premises.
During the first visit accompanying an elderly woman who went for a votive offering called
savamani, after a successful healing and the second visit along with the family of a schizophrenic
(who ultimately had a tragic death) in a group consisting of two psychologists and an
administrator, he was shocked at the sight of fellow travelers entering into trance known as peshi
and found it oppressive to see many afflicted shackled in chains or weighed down with heavy
stones on their chests, the afflicted given ceremonial hanging by thrusting them upside down at
the temple hall. This in addition to also various taboos concerning accepting of prasad and other
food items and advices against looking back upon departure lest one should catch spirits which
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Department of Anthropology
University of Delhi
all built up an atmosphere of fear in and about that place. Following updates by Prof. Joshi after
his recent visit to the temple that such practices are no longer practiced, he contended that
abolishing of repressive practices is inevitable as such places which institutionalize fear move
from repression to restitution (following Durkheim, 1964) and also from collectivism to
individualism over time. Reminding the gathering about the tragic death of many mentally ill
patients kept tied to their beds due to an accidental fire at a dargah in Maharashtra, he called for
more humanistic and careful approach to be followed for treatment of such patients, be it at
psychiatric wards or ritual healing places.
Discussing about her ongoing research in Balaji temple at Mehandipur, Nilisha Vashist,
described the healing ritual followed in the temple to exorcise spirits possessing the afflicted
visitors. The temple known widely over northern India for exorcism and spirit propitiation has
been the field for numerous studies in the past, major among these focusing on nature of
afflictions, catharsis as a principle guiding healing and family centered nature of
treatment(Dwyer 2003, Kakar1982, Seeberg 1992, Pakaslahti 1998). After a brief overview on
history of temple,nature of clientele and typology of afflicting spirits as well as nature of
afflictions, she highlighted the liminal nature of the temple as a site of healing which relegates
the established hierarchies of caste (supremacy of the servant Hanuman over master Ram and
other caste Gods) and class as well as ideal normative behavior in terms of gender, age, speech,
dressing, etc. Such liminality serves to symbolically unmake the afflicted in order to remake
them anew which also led to her brief discussion on the symbolism of holy dirt and ritual of
bathing in dirty drainage water by the afflicted. The ritual followed at the temple consists of a
systematic offering of different food items to various deities in the temple who each specialize in
a particular procedure in dealing with the spirit(s) in a manner of a court in the general sequence
of arzi (petition against the intruding spirit), darkhast (request), peshi(trance) andbayaan
(confession by thespirit). The analogy of a court for a temple deciding the case of an afflicted is
widespread in being used equally in temples and dargahs and other such shrines. The local
healers or bhagatsalso function parallel to the temple priests and offer their services as a
mediator between the spirit, self and the wider community to numerous clients. She also talked
about the differing nature of possession behaviors across various sites of the temple bringing in
the concept of great and little traditions in possession trance and a constant and antagonistic
interaction of the structure and anti-structure, treating it as a temple complex. The range of
possession behaviors and accompanying trance merits a further enquiry in order to understand
the complexity of phenomenon as opposed to earlier researches which talk of possession as a
homogenous realm and might offer newer insights into the studies of ritual healing of the spiritpossessed and the possible exchange of ideas and co-operation between the psychiatrists and the
folk- healers.
V.K. Srivastava narrated an incident from his life where he accompanied a man suffering from
problem of hair loss to a folk healer who after reading some grains told him that his problem has
no roots in supernatural realm and that he should consult the doctors for an effective solution,
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Department of Anthropology
University of Delhi
thus, describing how there exists a greater flexibility and acknowledgement of the efficacy of
their cure among the folk healers who do not claim to be a panacea for every malady. However,
such an attitude is often lacking in the scientific world of doctors and psychiatrists.
Pondering over the question of incessant seeking of places of ritual healing by people for cure to
many maladies referred to by psychiatrists as mental illnesses, he built upon Prof. Joshi’s
description of better rehabilitation of affected by ritual healers in saying that ritual healers and
healing places bring the affected back to family owing to their collectivistic nature which offers a
family-therapy unlike the psychiatric therapy where the affected is isolated and withdrawn from
the wider world. Also, the stigma that is associated with being labeled as mentally ill is mitigated
by transferring the burden of illness on other entity, a spirit, in ritual healing. On more
typological aspects of the spirit possession, he urged researchers interested in this topic to
enquire into the fields of cultural modeling of the phenomenon of possession and healing like
absence of explicit category of spirits of higher caste Hindu individuals as opposed to category
of spirits that belong to Muslim or lower caste Hindu individuals in classification discussed by
Nilisha and an enigmatic involvement of transcendental deities like Shiva in healing. He also
categorized spirit affliction under one or more of three types, where the spirit afflicts- 1) due to
negligence on part of family/individual and need propitiation (ancestor spirits), 2) due to sorcery
for revenge or out of jealousy and 3) due to its own animated nature of liking some particular
aspect of afflicted depending upon their own dispositions.
P. C. Joshi summed up the diverse threads of topic by highlighting how the modern psychiatry is
also acknowledging the efficacy of ritual healing by citing his conversation with R.Chadda, a
psychiatrist, at All India Institute of Medical Sciences, who narrated the case of a woman
suffering from dissociative disorder who recovered at Balaji after long time of no improvement
at their ward while at the same time expressing concern over the rigidness of most other Indian
psychiatrists who refuse to acknowledge the presence of
ritual healers as effective.This drew in comments from
S.M.Channa, who
gave the example of western
psychiatry which is now looking forward to modes of
healing other than just the accepted scientific ones and
how Indian psychiatry needs to learn from them. P.C.
Joshi also added that shamanistic and other forms of ritual
healing are going to persist in future as well as these are
more than just an alternative to psychiatry or
psychotherapy as ritual healers like shamans also act as agents of justice and counselors in the
societies they serve due to a socially accepted status of a gifted and powerful person and hence,
are intricately linked with functioning of that particular society.
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Department of Anthropology
University of Delhi
Discussion
The shift in studying shamanism from a functional to a phenomenological perspective involves
delving of the researcher into a deeper world of subtle and at times contradictory nature of
realities involving states of consciousness and the understanding of this and other world.
However, such studies often run the risk of overlooking the personality traits of the shamans and
the functional aspects of shamanistic rituals and trance. R.P.Mitra raised such a point by citing
example of a shaman from his own research among the Oraons who learnt the role of a shaman
through an arduous pathway that also depended heavily on his own personality traits. So, he
enquired as to how justifiable it is to strip off all the positivistic attributes from the shaman and
focus only on the world of spirits and meanings. To this, Prof. Joshi said that these aspects
represent different realms of the phenomenon. So, to start with a shaman may or may not have
practical deftness but invariably all shamans have to pass through a culturally accepted method
of channeling the spirits at will. So, one could focus on the traits of shamans, but for a better
understanding of the complex phenomenon of possession and trance, invariably deeper meanings
have to be uncovered. The three points on which shamans are strikingly noticeable are- 1) the
belief of shamans in their methods, 2) the belief of clients of shamans in their methods and 3) the
belief of community in shamans. However, what has been problematic in shamanism is the
inability of shamanistic terminologies to be adapted into the western terminologies resulting in
consolidated communities.
S.M.Channa commented on this aspect by saying that neo shamanism is based on individuals
forming their own communities based on numinous experiences. Discussing about the
inadequacy of psychiatric care in rehabilitation in Himalayas, she also highlighted the parallels
seen in west as even though an abundance of psychiatrists, ineffective rehabilitation of the
affected has led to a resurgence of neo-shamanistic practices. This could be taken as an important
point in directing further researches into trans-disciplinary nature of health systems.
The states of consciousness have been an important
aspect of ritual healing involving shamanism and spirit
possession. A number of query points belonging to this
like the inter-subjective nature of understanding of trance
by the shaman and the client, the gendered aspect of
possession and the phenomenology of altered states of
consciousness were discussed upon by the students and
the professors. Answering to the question of whether the
possession by spirits is indicative of a certain gendered
approach like the spirit of a woman possessing a woman or a man, S.M. Channa said that spirit
of any gender can possess any host and most of the times the gender of the spirit is not even
known to the host. Talking about the altered states of consciousness (ASC), S.M. Channa and
P.C. Joshi were of the opinions that the ASC experienced by shamans and other ritual healers is
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Shamanism and Ritual Healing
Department of Anthropology
University of Delhi
something more than the ASC experienced in general. So, whereas the ASC may be induced by
certain drugs, etc. the ASC experienced by a shaman is essentially voluntary and the shaman is in
control which may or may not be the case with others experiencing this. Also, the ASC
experienced by a shaman is more enriching, positive and socially desirable kind of phenomenon
that makes it different from the clinically described ASC. Thus, one may well call such an
altered state of consciousness experienced by ritual healers like shamans as shamanistic state of
consciousness.
Raising the issues in methodology and reflexivity over fieldwork in areas dealing with mental
illnesses, possession and ritual healing, M. Srivastava expressed her opinions about the difficult
nature of fieldwork for young researchers in such a scenario as the researchers may be naïve to
the native cosmologies and not know what questions to ask and since they themselves have never
been an afflicted or the healer, they may not be in a position to fully understand the emic point of
view leading to a fragmented data. Also, the question of researcher’s bias by believing in/not
believing in such a phenomenon may render the research unscientific.
V.K. Srivastava beautifully discussed all these points by saying that one needs not be a victim or
a healer to understand the perspective of a victim or a healer and that is what has been the
strength of anthropology. Anthropologists specialize in providing emic perspectives by studying
in depth a given culture, they may begin as a naïve but learn in the course of their fieldwork what
questions to ask and this is a continuous process that leads to a thick description. The ability of
anthropologists to emphatically relate with the people whom they study situates them in a unique
position where they are most suitable to conduct researches in fields that hover over both
scientific and cultural domains, unlike the psychiatrists and other such scientists who are rigid in
their approach and rubbish the existence of such phenomenon. Also commenting on the aspects
of reflexivity, S. M. Channa agreed with Nilisha in saying that for a researcher, it is impossible
to be truly objective due to the very reflexive nature of being a socially constructed human
imbibed with certain values. She furthered the thread by explaining that acknowledging the bias
that might have crept in due to a researcher’s inherent qualities is the best and most ethical way
of dealing with such topics. Commenting on the postmodern turn in anthropology, V.K.
Srivastava said that we are living in an age where we believe less in grand theories and hence,
researchers must stress on developing the local nosology focusing on the idiosyncratic nature of
knowledge production and perpetuation.
Conclusion
Commenting on topics discussed in the workshop, V.K. Srivastava called the workshop to be
truly anthropological in the sense that it covered diverse threads of the themes under discussion
focusing on an interactive, experiential and remembered leaning. It was observed unanimously
that Anthropology as a discipline has much to offer for both scholarly and applied domains in the
field of shamanistic and ritual healing. Not only we bridge the gap between science and culture
but also offer a downward up approach to foster better collaboration and exchange of culturally
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Department of Anthropology
University of Delhi
valid ideas between the scientific and the folk healer. Thus, on the matters of better inclusion of
folk systems of healing including ritualistic healing of the mentally disturbed, anthropologists
should focus on more such studies which ultimately would lead to a better informed health
policy that incorporates both the dimensions of healing calling for improved nosology of
symptoms, illnesses and afflictions.
S.M. Channa and P. C. Joshi also opined that there is a high need of moving inter-disciplinary
studies in this dimension to come up with new ground breaking conclusions. The role of Indian
psychiatry is highly crucial in this regard which though much more open to ideas of
incorporating folk healing systems has largely remained skeptical on these phenomena. Indian
psychology and psychiatry unlike the western counterparts have remained cast in decades old
theories about these aspects.
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